Wednesday, 18 March 2009

Bins becoming Battle Ground for the Council Elections.

Refuse collection seems to be a major – if not the major – issue which the electorate seem to be able to get a handle on. That is most people have some form of opinion and as a result it is becoming one of the major political battlegrounds for the up and coming local elections in June.

Within Lancaster city itself there has been a recent bin survey put out by me and some of the prospective Conservative councillors for the area. And our result, which have not been fully release yet seem to in some way contradict that of David Sudworth’s analysis from a report by West Lancashire District Council in that more than half of people want bi-weekly collections.

This is not the case when such things come into force. Especially when recycling is done – as it is in Lancaster – in a complicated and confused and even ineffective way. With the real results being messy streets, added waste being left on pavements and in alley ways as well as the council refuse staff being less sensitive to property or indeed taking care in their work because of what I suspect are tight timescales for the added work they need to do.

There is a balance. A balance which needs to be met with people who both want to recycle but also don’t want the council to withdraw services and impose regulation on their lives. The experience of recycling and refuse collection seems to be developing in some areas of West Lancashire District Council and as such they should seriously take into account the real experiences in areas such as Lancaster City when considering any changes.